Business: Kissing Who?
by EricaLumiere
Summary: Zeke has a chat with Casey.


One-shot, beginning of the movie. Gentle slash.

* * *

"Guaranteed to jack you up," A boy's voice spoke confidently.

"Up the nose, right?" A second voice; one of the drug-buyers, a little uncertain.

"Whatever works, man," the first voice again.

Casey threw the blood-soaked wad of paper on the bathroom floor. "Fuck."

"You coming, man?" the second boy's voice.

"No, I've got some business to take care of."

That was Zeke talking; he was the first one who'd spoken; an almost egotistical boy, but with reason.

"Okay. See you, man," the bathroom door opened and finally closed again. Zeke stood quiet for a minute, waiting to see if anyone was going to come in and hide from the first few minutes of class that would be presently.

He whistled quietly to himself and knocked on the side door of thr stall closest to the sink.

"Case?"

Casy sighed. "How'd you know it was me?"

Zeke chuckled. "Come on, man. I always know if it's you. Now come on out of there."

Shifting his bag on his shoulder, Casey stood up and unlocked the stall door, stepping into the wider area by the sinks, carefully touching a hand to his nose. He almost hated how Zeke had a sixth sense; a Casey-homing device.

"Hey," Zeke smiled caringly, leaning innocently-seductively against the wall.

Casey sighed and dropped his bag on the floor, one hand still on his bloody face, as if trying to hide it.

Zeke stepped towards him, pulling his hand away; gently fingering the slightly bruised face. For all the asshole he was, he had a soft spot - and maybe more - for this kid.

"At least the bleeding stopped... I'm sorry I wasn't there to help you this time," Zeke apologized, one hand caressing the shorter boy's face.

"It's okay," Casey whispered, nervousness setting in. Fucking nerves. It's not like he hadn't been alone in here with Zeke before. Why should he be so nervous? Then again, why shouldn't he? The boy was gorgeous.

"Will you be okay?" Zeke put a hand on Casey's chin and pulled him towards the sinks. He turned on the tap and wet his fingers, carefully and slowly washing the blood off his friend's face.

"Yea, I- I guess so..." Casey flinched at the touch, his gaze darting down to his shoes.

"You guess so? So you won't be," Zeke used his long sleeve to dry Casey's face, then wiped his hands on his shirt,

"Yea, I will. I always am," he spoke through gritted teeth, forcing courage out. He put a hand up to his face, let it graze his cheek.

Zeke pulled Casey's hand away from his face, shaking his head.

The taller boy looked carefully at Casey. The boy was strong, for damn sure. Not physically strong, but emotionally. He'd gotten beaten up almost every day of his high school life. And he always managed to come out okay. Or at least with the appearance of being okay. At the very least, Zeke had never seen him cry.

"I know you are," Zeke pulled Casey close, wrapping his arms around him. "You don't always have to be."

"Yes, I do," Casey whispered almost tearfully, his face going red for all the tears that were struggling to get out, letting his arms wind their way around Zeke, burying his face in his shoulder. _Won't cry, won't cry, won't cry._

"Why is that?" he ran a hand through Casey's hair. They had never hugged before, not like this, but he liked it.

"'Cause I'm the geek," Casey spat out, angry or ashamed, hugging Zeke harder.

"You're not a geek, Case."

"No, I'm _the_ geek," he put emphasis on the third word.

Zeke sighed and slowly pulled away from his friend, who left his arms draped loosely around his waist, much like a young boy and girl at a middle school dance.

"Shut up and listen, Casey. You're not _the_ geek, you're not _a_ geek. You're not some kind of fucking loser. You're just smarter and more gifted than most people. I know you're not a geek," Zeke spoke reassuringly.

Casey pulled his arms back to himself. "Yea, and they hate me for it." He grabbed his bag by the strap and headed for the door, but Zeke grabbed him by the shoulders and spun him around.

What happened next would stay in Casey's memory for a long time. Zeke pressed his lips to Casey's, began to kiss him tenderly, letting his hands wander to the boy's neck, rest on his shoulders.

Casey kissed him back, almost unsure of what to do, but if Zeke minded, he didn't let on.

Finally, after a long, nerve-wracking but utterly enjoyable minute, Zeke pulled away and let Casey relax in his arms.

"Hey, Case?" he whispered.

Casey licked his lips slowly, too shy to look up. "Yea?"

"I don't kiss geeks."


End file.
